Thu May 30, 2013

Watch: Haunting Time-Lapse Video of Austin at Night

For Andrew Takano, a UT aerospace engineering grad student, it was to capture what Austin looks like at night. Some 170 hours of shooting and editing later, Takano’s video, “Sleepwalking Austin,” is racking up views on YouTube.

The three-minute clip offers lapse shots of iconic Austin places: the State Capitol, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Interstate 35 and more. But shooting all the locales at night gives the clip a haunting, dreamlike quality.

"Most people have been asking me what kind of motion control rig I used (rails, dollies, etc.), but I used none,” Takano said via email. “I'm a broke grad student, so all that specialty gear is beyond my means." Instead, he relied on a tripod, steady hands, and “a ton of work in post” to achieve the video’s gliding motions.

"People have told me that's crazy, and maybe they're right. It took a bunch of planning, a lot of patience and care, and a ton of work," he said.

Takano came to Austin nine years ago to study aerospace engineering at University of Texas at Austin and has been an Austinite ever since. He says he was enamored by the city being a tech enthusiast and wishes to stay in Austin.

"Unfortunately, the aerospace industry in Austin is virtually non-existent, so staying would likely require me to change professions," he said.

With videos like “Sleepwalking Austin,” he may have found a new line of work.